Sustainability

Hillary Clinton tours DART's Platinum-certified Central Station

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (shown R to L) with DART General Manager Elizabeth Presutti and Building Supervisor Keith Welch on the tour of Central Station. Photo: DART

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority's (DART) Central Station on Monday, July 27, 2015. DART General Manager Elizabeth Presutti led the tour, which highlighted the building’s environmentally sustainable construction and operations.

“It was very exciting. It`s definitely an opportunity to showcase DART and all of the great things we’ve been doing particularly with the construction of DART Central Station and all the environmental sustainability components of the building,” said Presutti as reported by WHOTV.

The building achieved this certification through sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

DART Central Station has been certified LEED Platinum, the highest certification of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council. DART Central Station achieved this certification through sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Highlights include:

24% of construction materials were recycled;

28% of the materials were manufactured regionally;

70 geothermal wells help with heating and cooling;

86,498 kilowatt hours of energy have been generated since opening by rooftop photovoltaic panels, a savings of 515,840 pounds of carbon dioxide;

2.8 million gallons of rainwater have been captured, cleaned and reused in place of potable water since opening for tasks such as washing bus platforms — nearly 50% of total water used.

The station, which opened in November 2012, features many amenities including climate-controlled waiting areas, covered loading platforms, a bicycle storage room and a local coffee purveyor, Java Joe’s CoffeeHouse.

Photo: DART

DART Central Station is the work of many people and firms. Substance Architecture led the design team and The Weitz Co. led the construction team, with contributions from numerous local companies.

Public transit agencies and businesses voluntarily choose to join the APTA Sustainability Commitment program and pledge to implement processes and actions that create continuous improvements in sustainability.